Important!! Changes to Mercenaries

[Sargoth]

Few things I'd like to mention..
Changing templates "after years" is not that painful. Skill gain is fast here, we got LRC, training areas, training weapon, skill balls and soulstones. Making changes to character in order to be able to use a strong pet is acceptable in my eyes, even if it was able without skill changes before. Everyone can create a new template after all.. some kind of Warrior/Necromancer - Leader.

Setting up required skill for Anatomy OR Tactics OR Spirit Speak basically means giving the Mercenary for free to all Fighters and Necromancers (not mages). Even a snake or rat requires some skill dedication to control. This "free giving" of Mercenaries has its down effect of making them weaker. I suppose you meant, they can't win 1v1 with White Wyrm or Shadow Wyrm when they are properly trained and equiped. If thats right, they are pretty useless now, because WW or SW are quite weak monsters. I'd much rather have skill requirement of 100 useless skillpoints for slightly stronger pet. If they will require those anyway picked skills (Tact, Anat, SS), they are basically no part of a template.. players simply didn't set up a template considering Mercenaries, they just created a Fighter/Necro and got a nice boost in a shape of a Mercenary, while other templates like Tamers/Mages/Spellweavers/Bards still have to invest 100 points for a skill they don't need, if they want a mercenary. I find this unfair to them.

When it comes to PvP, i agree with pet fighting along player in Tartarus. It is part of a build (it isn't, if they require just Tactics) so mercenaries should be able to participate in fighting. Just one thing to mention - Mercenaries have crazy moving speed. They are able to follow a running horse just on their feet and in combat they are even faster.. They almost "teleport" to a target when they are under "Guarding" mode. This is a good thing about them, but can create some mess in PvP.

On a first look, i welcomed the changes and saw it as a long-term good. The way it turned now, it looks more like disappointment.

No big deal, just my honest opinion =)

Have a nice day everyone =)

[Amairgen]

Mar 2, 2016 14:48:34 GMT -8 Sargoth said:

Few things I'd like to mention..

. . Changing templates "after years" is not that painful . .

. . I suppose you meant, they can't win 1v1 with White Wyrm or Shadow Wyrm when they are properly trained and equipped. If that's right, they are pretty useless now, because WW or SW are quite weak monsters . .

. . They are able to follow a running horse just on their feet and in combat they are even faster . .

Thank you again for your thoughts.

1) For existing full templates that players are happy having . . it would mean dropping 100 skill points to then gain a new rarely selected skill. I still feel the pain on that one. Would be good to hear from other players.

2) Yes . . I think that Mercenaries should have some top end at which point they need help (not just a master hiding behind a rock). The White Wyrm and the Shadow Wyrm are the most powerful non-custom 'regular' dungeon monsters on the shard. I do not want Mercenaries to solo the heavier monsters so I picked the WW and SW as the 'line in the sand'. If the Mercenary master keeps his eyes open he can use bandages or spells to keep his friend alive. Tamers face the same challenge.

I could leave Mercenaries strong but remove their ability to Heal themselves. No other pet (except maybe CuSidhe can heal).

3) I will look into Mercenary speed while in combat.


Thanks - what does everyone think about the discussions so far?
Cheers

[jasen]

i was just reading and see people thought and all and i agree with everyone but im glad that mercenary gona change and that they will need our help in battle

[Amairgen]

Okay - after Forum and in-game discussion over the past couple of weeks, as well as testing . .

The 'New' Mercenaries (Human and Undead) will come live to the Server this coming weekend

1) Players who have 'Old' Mercenaries can trade them in to Amairgen in exchange for 'New' Mercenaries.
Note:
- Remove all equipment/weapons/jewelry/etc before the exchange
- The 'Old' Mercenaries (including anything they have equipped) will be wiped from the Server a week later

2) The 'New' Mercenaries given out in exchange for 'Old' ones will be at full stage development and at full skill development.

3) In addition, a bonus gift will be given to any account turning in 'Old' Mercenaries. The bonus gift will be 'one per account'. The bonus gift will be a choice of any one of the following:
- 10,000 Tradium coins
- One special storage container (like wood, ingots, tools etc.) of player's choice
- Two spell crafting jewels of player's choice
- One 115 power scroll of player's choice
- 1,000 power scroll tokens (equal to one 120 random PS)
- Five +1 skill balls
- One stat ball
- Pet slot increased by 1 to a maximum of 8
- One ID wand with 1000 uses
- One blessed pouch to safely store 10 items
- Blessing of one Item
- Renaming of 1 item


'New' Mercenary Changes

1) 'New' Mercs will now take up 5 follower slots so only one can be used at a time

2) 'New" Mercs will not be able to heal themselves. They will be like other pets and require your attention if they get in trouble.

3) To use the 'New' Mercenaries you will need to be a GM on at least one of the following skills
- Anatomy
- Tactics
- Chivalry
- Necromancy
- Spirit Speak
- Magery

4) As always . . the equipment and bonus items you give your Merc will make them stronger.


General Change to All Evo Pets

After this weekend all Evo type Pets (including Mercs) will be able to attack other players on Tartarus. In return they will also be subject to attack from players. If you lose a Pet/Merc or its ghost you can retrieve it for a fee using the Pet Retrieval Saddle near the Arete Isle stables.

Other Changes

1) If you succeed with the Hym's Cave Quest or the Necromancer Slave Quest you will have a 10% chance to get a '+1 Follower Slot Scroll' for your Warrior, Mage or Necromancer.

2) Several scripts will go on the Sever in preparation for Druid Quests which are in development.

3) The Lost Dutchman's Shovel in the GM Miner's Quest will have a better chance to drop Mining Powerscrolls.

4) The Lottery Stone will be re-activated and now will pay Lottery prizes in Tradium Coins.

[Sargoth]

Im looking forward to try new changes, thank you for taking your time working on this Amairgen =)
It would be VERY helpful, to have Self Repair (at least 4) enabled for crafted items, because it will be easier to try out new mercenaries with crafted items that doesn't need repairs every hour. We talked about this Amairgen, so im just bringing this again, as it would be really helpful to have it for trying and exploring changes to mercenaries.

Have a nice day! =)

[Amairgen]

The Spellcrafting jewel for Self Repair drops on the Spellcrafting quest so Crafters with enough Alchemy and Inscription can add Self Repair to armor shields and weapons.

[Sargoth]

You probably forgot about our discussion we had about it =)) No worries, i know you got lots of stuff to deal with, i'll resend the message thread to you, so you can better see what i am talking about =)

[trish]

I'am a new player here.. but I think the easier the game is, the less players will have the shard.. so I agree on nerfing the op stuff like this one around the game

[alk760]

Well for the time it took for a Mercenary deed to drop and then get the evo npc accistant to level 6.
gearing it with a 35% life leech weapon and a real good gm set.
after watching it charge in like Captin Saveahoe time after time to just die and than force me to solo all that agro in order to get that gear off the dead Mercenary was not fun.

Blessed gear is a must with a mercenary otherweise they just become real expencive trash cans.

I have not yet tried a full set of Phoenix on my mercenary maybe the 22 health regen would keep it's low health pool up. over all it's underpowered to say the lest but having the assistant follow you and guard you from mongbats was fun to mess with.

[yhaguen]

Very hard to balance as mercenaries can wear artifact sets and should be less attractive then pets as you have 300+ taming skill points to invest.

It is a good trophy but do not think to use it outside of Trammel.

Cheers,
Yhaguen.

[Calcifer]

Ok, so I just got my first mercenary [yayayayay] & have some questions!

1] Is there a way to change her appearance or is it luck of the draw?
2] I read something about mercenary 'feed', did this get implimented & if so, where/what is it?
3] Due to level 1 mercs having 15 strength, i can't seem to equip her with any weapons therefore she currently can't kill anything - not even a chicken (i tried) & then as a result, i can't level her up. (unless i'm missing something, which is probable).
4] at GM tactics & anatomy, I can't heal her with bandages (barely help every time) & i can't seem to res her.
5] is there a way to check her exp & stats being as animal lore doesn't work & tactics doesn't really offer anything useful?

Thanks in advance!

[Calcifer]

Ok, so answered my own questions 3] & sort of 5]....

Chickens levelled her up once & when i shrink her i can see her Stats, Skills & Current Exp...

[Calcifer]

I seem to be unable to remove a weapon once i've given it to her... & It doesn't seem to work dragging & dropping on her paperdoll like a vendor, but you drop it on her actual character model.

[Amairgen]

Okay . . from the scripts . .

Mercenaries obey the usual Pet commands but can also obey special commands such as:

Restyle
Dress
Undress
Mount
Dismount
Stats
Unload
List
Arm
Grab (works on items within 2 tiles of the Mercenary)
Loot
Attack
Tithe
Help

NOTE: to use these commands you must say your Mercenary's Name followed by the command.

In case you forget the available commands you can say your Mercenary's Name followed by 'Help' and they will tell you what commands they will obey.

To dress and/or equip them . . I cannot remember if you drop items onto their opened Paperdoll or if you place the items in their Backpack then use the 'Dress' and/or 'Arm' commands.

Hope this helps

[Calcifer]

This is brilliant! Thank you so much! <3